Monthly Archives: April 2011

One thing I’ve noticed, as people get more and more dependent on technology, is how the actual real-time interaction and/or meeting with someone in person, is on the decline. As a matter of fact, it seems like i can’t even keep people on the phone long enough to let me give them directions to my studio anymore: ‘it’s cool, i’ve got a GPS in the car.. i’ll just punch it in.. click.. dialtone….’ (yeah sure, while you steer with your knee and run over a dog – and then get it wrong anyway!).
I have a company called Groundlift, and at it’s core, it’s a group of like minded artists and creative types. Through this company i collaborate with artists from all over the world. We do music, remixes, videos Continue reading →

Been watching a lot of movies from the 70’s (and late 60’s) lately, and no matter how many times i watch these films, they never get boring, never seem too dated and never cease to amaze me. The craft of making movies had really reached some sort of a peak at that time, and even if it’s hard to put a finger on what it was that made it so, everything just seemed so perfectly done.. so beautifully lit.. meticulously written .. there was such a love for the art – not just the telling of the story, and these movies really informed a lot of modern film makers. They set the tone.

A great example is The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) dir. by Norman Jewison and shot by the great Haskell Wexler. Continue reading →

You know what’s a great place for spices? This one – the Spice Station, in Silverlake. Neatly tucked in a small alley, next door to Forage (also awesome), it’s a treasure trove of goodness. The Urfa Biber is great on roasted chicken thighs or breasts, and the Harissa and Berbere are fantastic on just about anything – good heat and good flavor. The latest find was Poseidon’s Catch – fantastic blend of dill and other green things .. for the grilled salmon. And don’t forget to pick up some Sweet Heat for your hot chocolate Continue reading →

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One of my favorite shows on the radio is ‘Classical Music’ with Jim Svejda on fm 91.5 here in L.A. (yes, it is simply called ‘Classical Music with Jim Svejda’ – i guess not to be confused with the other shows on KUSC, called ‘Classical Music with Rich Capparella’ or ‘Classical Music with Kimberlea Daggey’ and so on). It’s on at 7:00 pm, and goes on for an astonishing 5 hrs – every night of the week! Of course he also hosts ‘Sunday Night at the Opera’ (3hrs) and ‘The Record Shelf’ on saturday evenings.. !!

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Ok, so it’s been 45 mins, and I’m still tweaking the color of my header type.. pretty neat having all these options, but perhaps not the smartest place for an OCD freak like myself.

I wonder if I’ll actually write something at some point, or just continue tweaking. Just know that i am putting a lot of work into this blog.. even if you’ll never know half of what goes on behind the scenes here!

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Listening to The Who (on purpose, this time) Didn’t think that would ever happen, but thanks to Chris Bruce, I got turned on to an album of theirs that is quite experimental and bizarre… ‘The Who Sell Out’. Leave it to me to discover this band – 60 years after the fact.. ha! – Same thing happened with “Abbey Road” the other day (yes, the Beatles album…!). I attribute that to getting older and wiser, and becoming more ‘open’ as opposed to just being slow and stubborn..